Office of the Historian

235. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson1

Washington, May 28, 1968, 10:40 a.m.

Mr. President:

George Christian says you wish to have for the 11:30 a.m. meeting with Prime Minister Gorton2 the situation with respect to North Vietnamese troops in Cambodia and the problem that we face.

[Page 522]
1.
As the attached paper (Tab A) from the CIA,3 which Dick Helms distributed this morning, indicates, the North Vietnamese have been using the Cambodian salient in various ways for the past 3 years.
2.
At the present time some 12,000 enemy troops are arrayed against allied positions in western Kontum province; we know that an offensive has been planned for some time; it is Westyʼs intention to pre-empt this offensive, if possible, if not, to defeat them and drive them back.
3.
The two maps at the end of the CIA paper, marked with paper-clips, show the transport routes, headquarters, bivouac areas, etc. now in the Northeast Cambodian salient.
4.
At Tab B are Bunkerʼs and Westyʼs cables4 which request your permission to attack this salient if and when the North Vietnamese are driven back from their assault on Kontum. The map attached to those cables shows the squares which Westy wishes to attack in this uninhabited base area.
Walt
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Cambodia, Miscellaneous Cables & Memos, 1/67–12/58. Top Secret.↩
  2. President Johnson met with Prime Minister Gorton at 11:42 a.m. on May 28. The meeting lasted until 12:16 p.m. Johnson and Gorton were joined by Australian Ambassador Sir Keith Waller, C.L.S. Hewitt, Secretary of the Prime Ministerʼs Department, Bundy, Rostow, and Chief of Protocol Angier Biddle Duke. (Ibid., Presidentʼs Daily Diary) No memorandum of discussion of Cambodia has been found, but see Document 236.↩
  3. No Tab A was attached. The CIA paper probably was SC No. 08367/68, May 28, not printed. (Johnson Library, National Security File, Vietnam, 5E (2)b, 1/68–10/68, Cambodia)↩
  4. See footnotes 2 and 3, Document 234.↩